Railroad-bed-mowing machine



May 19, 1925- w. YE, HARRIS RAILROAD BED MOWING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENToR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

May 19, 1925 w. E. HARRIS RAILROAD BED MOWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 28,1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESS:

INVENTOR ATTORN EY Patented May 19, 1925.

WILLIAM E; HARRIS; or LONGVIEW, TEXAS.v

To 'allucom Itf/may 'conce m1 Be itI known that It-finlnmn E. Hhnn'is;

a citizen `of` the" United States, residingl at Longview3-iii-tliecounty (if-Gregg and State of4F Texas, Vhave invented new and useful"Improvements' in Railroad-Bed-Mowing- Mlacliines'if wliichtlie"followingis a specificanove-li device designed to` be attached to a hand, .motoror pirshlca'r` traveling alon'gthef tracks andincluding selectivelyVusable nnple'ments for mowing the grass, weeds and the like, scrapingand harrowing the road bedatY the sides'of the track for' giving ,itlthe prol'ier grade andv smoothing" it off intov proper condition.-

An important obj-ect isthe provision of a device of this character whichincludes a plurality of afdj ustable arins detachably and pivotallyyconnected and carried by ahand car or thelikie, the` arms being fullyadjustable wher-eby to vary the angular inclination of a scraper orblade carried thereby.

An additional object is the provision of a device of this characterwhich will be coniparatively simple and inexpensive in manufacture, easyto install and use, eflicient and durable in service and a generalimprovement in the art.

lith the above and other objects and advantages in view the inventionconsists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device including a mower and showingitmounted upon a hand car,

Figure 2 is a -side elevation,

Figure 8 is an end elevation,

Figure el is a detail section taken through the mower.

Referring more particularly to the draw-- ings the letter A designates arailroad track, B designates the road bed at the sides thereof and Crepresents a vehicle which might be a hand car, motor car or push car.

In carrying out my invention l provide upon each side of the car C aplurality of socket-like brackets 1() within which are detachably andpivotally engaged downturned trunnons 11 formed on arms 12, 13 and 14which all ex'tendflaterfz'illy from the saine side ofi tliecar. lntheifori'nof the device shmvnv` inFiguli-e 11 eachlof these `armsconsists lof al pair'ofb'a'r'sv 15 slidably adjustably connectl edasforliii-sta-nfee by meansof bolts 16 passi nig throng-h isele'cted'registering vholes 17.

@arried l byftliel outer 'ends 'of the arfms is mowei" structureincluding-' at frame 18' mounted upon w`heels" orV rollers` 19,rprovided at its fori'vard -en'd with af* species of gnideor shoe-12(l,landhavingjournaled in its rearportiona mower blade 21 of the rotary typeand of any ordinary or prefeir'edy constr-uc'ztionl Itl` is of coursenecessaryl to provid-e some means for driving this mower blade and whileit might be constructed similar to the ordinary or well known type ofdomestic lawn nfiowefr", it is preferable to providea drivemechanisinwhich mightconsist of a sprocket 22-'seci'ired with respect tothe blade211 and havingtrainedthereover a` chain 2B" travelingwithinE a"housing'` 24 and tra-ined about a' sprocket-25 inounte'dupon a shaft 26journaled transversely of the forward end of the frame. Connected withthis shaft by a univer-sal joint 27 is a drive shaft 28 which isprovided at one end with an enlarged portion 29 carrying clamping bolts30 by means of which it may be engaged upon the hub of one wheel D ofthe carrying vehicle.

When use of the device is desired, the arms 12, 13 and 14 are engagedwith the brackets and the sections of the arms are adjusted so that theforward arm 12 will be inclined rearwardly, the middle arm 13 willextend outwardly from the track car at right angles thereto and the arm14 will be inclined forwardly. It is of course evident that all of thearms are inclined downwardly and outwardly and it is to be observed thatall the arms have a pivotal connection 31 with the frame 18 of the mowerso that as the car is pushed, pulled or otherwise pro` pelled along thetrack the mower may accommodate itself to inequalities in the groundtraveled over. As the wheels of the operating car turn, the shaft 28connected with one thereof will drive the mower mechanism, so that allgrass, weeds and the like growing along the road bed will be cut.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of theinvention it is of course to be understood that I reserve the right tomake such changes in the form,

construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the subjoine'd claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

l. A road bed mowing device for attachment to a track vehicle,comprising brackets on the track vehicle, longitudinally adjust-- ablearms pivoted on said brackets, and a mower carried by said arms andpivotally mounted with respect thereto whereby to be capable of verticalswinging movement to correspond with and accommodate inequalities in thesurface traveled over, the mower including a frame, rollers journaledtherebelow, a rotary cutter journaled in the frame and a flexible driveshaft operatively connected with an axle of the track vehicle andconnected with said rotary cutter.

2. A road bed mowing device for attachment to a track vehicle,comprising brackets on the track vehicle, longitudinally adjustable armspivoted on said brackets, and a mower carried by said arms and pivotallymounted with respect thereto whereby to be capable of vertical swingingmovement to correspond with and accommodate inequalitiesin the surfacetraveled over, the mower including an elongated frame, rollers journaledtherebelow, aV rotary cutter journaled in the frame and having a shaftcarrying a sprocket, a short shaft journaled in the frame and carrying asprocket, a chain l trained about both sprockets, a housing carried bythe frame and enclosing the sprockets and chain, and a universal jointedshaft operatively connected with a rotary element of the track vehicleand connected with said Short shaft.

3. A device for mowing the grass along railroad track way, comprisingthe combination of a wheeled track vehicle, a pair of outer angularbrackets and an intermediate bracket secured upon one side of thevehicle, a pair of outwardly converging arms pivotally connected withthe outer brackets, a third arm pivotally connected with theintermediate bracket and extending outwardly atfright angles to the sideof the track vehicle, a frame, a mowing mechanism mounted within theframe, a plurality of brackets on the side of the frame toward the trackvehicle, the outer ends of said arms being pivotallymounted within saidlast named brackets, a drive connection for the mowing mechanismincluding a telescopic shaft having a universal connection with themowing mechanism and with one axle of the track vehicle, all of saidarms being formed of longitudinally adjustably connected sections where`by the distance of the mowing mechanism from the side of the track maybe varied, the pivotal connection of the mowing` mechanism frame withthe supporting arms permitting the mowing mechanism to followinequalities in the ground travelled over.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM E. HARRIS.

